Combustion emissions from coal-fired plants and waste incinerators are major contributors of mercury emissions to the environment. The reduction of mercury emissions is of paramount concern, because mercury is one of the most toxic metals that can be released from combustion processes. Mercury is further designated as a hazardous pollutant under the Clean Air Act of 1990. Mercury may be released in numerous forms including elemental mercury (Hg(0)), oxidized mercury (e.g., Hg(I) and Hg(II) as halides and oxides), and particulate mercury, depending on the type of material combusted and the combustion conditions. Of the many techniques employed to reduce mercury emissions, sorption of mercury with activated carbon sorbents may be used. Such sorbents are injected directly into a combustion exhaust gas stream where they sorb mercury pollutants. The mercury-contaminated sorbents are collected in downstream particulate control devices such as bag filters or electrostatic precipitators. To increase sorption efficiency, sorbents may be chemically modified with sulfur, chlorine, or iodine to create sites with enhanced mercury binding. While such chemical modifications have succeeded in increasing mercury sorption capacity by up to 300 times, the manufacture of such sorbents is often impractically expensive, further requiring extended heat treatments and conditioning with hazardous chemicals.